Coliseum demolition could start in late March

Decision on Swim Center plan due soon

No organized effort by preservationists to save the coliseum, which suffered more wind damage to its roof last week, has emerged.

George Gongora/Caller-Times

Memorial Coliseum, which has been mostly vacant since late 2004, suffered more roof damage with last week’s high winds. The building was completed in 1954.

George Gongora/Caller-Times

CORPUS CHRISTI - A wrecking ball could slam into Memorial Coliseum by late March and it could be gone by early June, according to the timetable city officials have set.

Only a few steps stand in the way of an event that many longtime residents, whether they love or hate the coliseum, likely still doubt will occur.

The City Council will decide Tuesday whether to move forward with National Swim Center Corp.’s plan to redevelop the coliseum, or proceed with demolition. If the council neither approves the Swim Center plan nor grants the company an extension, the demolition process moves forward automatically in accordance with a previous council vote.

Pre-demolition plans are nearly complete. They include an asbestos inspection, demolition plan and estimate along with an eight-week bidding process set to begin Jan. 18. Demolition is scheduled for March 29. Completion is expected June 7.

No organized effort by preservationists to save the coliseum has emerged. Nor does it have an official historic designation such as the one that prohibits demolition of the empty old Nueces County Courthouse. The old courthouse also had an organized group, Friends of the Courthouse Inc., to fight for its survival.

People knowledgeable about architecture and history have said the coliseum is significant on both accounts. They have made their opinions known but have not turned it into a cause, such as Friends of the Courthouse or a brief, unsuccessful effort in the late 1980s to save the city’s previous City Hall building, designed by the architect who also designed the coliseum.

The national nonprofit Recent Past Preservation Network and the state group Preservation Texas have placed the coliseum on their Web sites (www.recentpast.org and www.preservationtexas.org) urging that council members be contacted to voice concerns about the demolition.

Local veteran Ray Madrigal led an unsuccessful monthslong campaign to collect signatures for a petition that would force a citywide vote to restore the coliseum. He wanted to preserve the building because it is a war memorial.

The building has been mostly vacant since late 2004, when American Bank Center replaced its basic function as an event center. Since then the city has sought tenants or developers.

“It’s a significant work of architecture without a doubt,” said local architect David Richter. “It was an innovative structure at the time and it’s still considered a sophisticated structure.”

The coliseum, completed in 1954, was designed by late local architect Richard Colley, whose design received national acclaim.

Richter said the city has a history of tearing down old buildings, such as Colley’s City Hall, for the sake of what it believes is progress.

He disagrees with that mentality, but says he understands it.

“It’s hard for me to criticize, at this point, those who want to tear it down because I don’t see a clear path for a short-term solution other than to stabilize it.”